Shahnaz from Narayanganj went to Saudi Arabia in 2018 to change her fortunes, but eight months later, she has come back in a body bag.
On Tuesday (Aug 20) morning, her dead body reached the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka, confirmed Deputy Director of Expatriate Welfare Desk Anisuzzaman.
Her body was handed over to the family and Tk 35,000 given by the Wage Earner’s Welfare Board, for burial. Other compensations will be paid later. Shahnaz’s family alleges that in Saudi Arabia, she was not given proper medical treatment and called home only seven times in eight months.
The Saudi family, where Shahnaz worked, claims she committed suicide but the worker’s relatives feel that she died of torture.
Shahnaz’s son alleges that the Saudi medicines were not working for his mother.
In the last 15 years, 3800 women workers died overseas with the highest death rates in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, Lebanon and UAE.
As per Earner’s Welfare Desk, from 2005 till now 3793 women workers have died and from 2016 till June this year, 331 have died.
In the last six months, 60 dead bodies have come from abroad.